The Latest: Tariff agreement hailed by business groups

President Donald Trump speaks at the National Association of REALTORS Legislative Meetings and Trade Expo, Friday, May 17, 2019, in Washington.

President Donald Trump speaks at the National Association of REALTORS Legislative Meetings and Trade Expo, Friday, May 17, 2019, in Washington.

Photo: Alex Brandon, AP

Photo: Alex Brandon, AP

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President Donald Trump speaks at the National Association of REALTORS Legislative Meetings and Trade Expo, Friday, May 17, 2019, in Washington.

President Donald Trump speaks at the National Association of REALTORS Legislative Meetings and Trade Expo, Friday, May 17, 2019, in Washington.

Photo: Alex Brandon, AP

The Latest: Tariff agreement hailed by business groups

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump and U.S. trade tariffs (all times local):

4:50 p.m.

Mexico's National Chamber of the Iron and Steel Industry is congratulating the country's officials on the agreement reached with the United States on ending steel and aluminum tariffs.

The chamber says in a statement posted online that it considers the deal "a strong and very positive step for industry in the entire region."

It also calls it "a great advance" toward ratifying the new trade deal between Mexico, the United States and Canada.

The chamber added Friday afternoon that, "As we have reiterated on diverse occasions, free and fair trade in the region favors the competitiveness of North America."

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4:30 p.m.

The office of United State Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer says an agreement reached with Canada and Mexico allows the U.S. to reimpose steel and aluminum tariffs if there is a "surge" in imports of those products.

President Donald Trump had imposed tariffs of 25% on imported steel and 10% on imported aluminum in the name of national security. But that brought retaliation on U.S.-made goods, hitting American manufacturers and farmers.

The three nations agreed Friday to drop those tariffs.

Lighthizer's office says the agreement ending the dispute ensures that if the U.S. does reimpose tariffs, Canada and Mexico must limit retaliation to American steel and aluminum products.

The statement describes the agreement as "great news for American farmers" that continues to protect America's steel and aluminum industries.

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4:10 p.m.

Mexico is hailing as "very satisfactory" an agreement with the United States to end U.S. tariffs on Mexican steel and aluminum as well as lift retaliatory measures imposed by Mexico.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's office says in a statement that the deal restores "commercial exchange free of tariffs for these products."

It says both countries will work to prevent imports of the metals at dumping prices, and have agreed to monitor aluminum and steel trade.

López Obrador's office says both countries also agreed to end pending litigation over the issue before the World Trade Organization.

Mexico adds that it consulted with Canada and pushed three-way dialogue regarding the tariffs.

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4 p.m.

Toyota is expressing disappointment that President Donald Trump hasn't taken auto tariffs off the table.

Declaring auto imports a threat to U.S. national security, Trump has delayed a decision on auto tariffs for six months, suggesting he could impose them if U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer can't wrangle concessions from Japan and the European Union on auto trade.

Toyota called Trump's statement Friday "a major set-back for American consumers, workers and the auto industry" and said it "sends a message to Toyota that our investments are not welcomed, and the contributions from each of our employees across America are not valued."

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3:50 p.m.

Some business and farm groups are cheering an agreement Friday lifting import taxes on steel and aluminum from Canada and Mexico.

In turn, those two nations will eliminate tariffs they imposed on a wide range of U.S. goods, such as pork, whiskey and orange juice.

Thomas Donohue, who leads the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, says the move "will bring immediate relief to American farmers and manufacturers."

David Herring, president of the National Pork Producers Council, said Mexico's 20 percent retaliatory tariff cost the industry about $1.5 billion annually. Herring says "we thank the administration for ending a trade dispute that has placed enormous financial strain on American pork producers."

The groups are now turning their attention to efforts to advance a new trade deal to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement.

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3:25 p.m.

Vice President Mike Pence says he'll be traveling to Canada on May 30 to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in an effort to advance a new trade deal to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The Trump administration is calling the deal, which includes Mexico, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA. Pence says he'll meet with Trudeau to advance the agreement as swiftly as possible.

Pence tweets, "This is a WIN for all 3 nations!"

But prospects for passage remain uncertain, as Democrats say changes need to be made to earn their support.

Trump announced an agreement Friday to end steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico, which some lawmakers said was necessary to gain their support.

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2:50 p.m.

President Donald Trump has announced a deal with Canada and Mexico that would scrap "major tariffs," ending a simmering trade dispute that began when the president imposed tariffs on imported steel and aluminum in the name of national security.

Trump addressed the agreement while speaking before The National Association of Realtors. He urged Congress to approve a new trade pact between the three nations to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Trump did not mention the tariffs he imposed last year on steel and aluminum imports. But he said "we'll be selling our product into those countries without the imposition of tariffs, or major tariffs."

While the tariffs helped many U.S. steel and aluminum makers, the retaliatory tariffs hurt other sectors of the U.S. economy, such as agriculture.

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2:45 p.m.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada stayed strong in asking for a full lift of the Trump administration's tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Trudeau said at a steel facility in Hamilton, Ontario, that now that there is a full lift of those tariffs Canada is going to work with the United States on ratification of the new trade agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

President Donald Trump used a national security justification last year to impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. One of the motivations was to pressure Canada and Mexico into agreeing to a rewrite of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The Canadians and Mexicans did go along with a revamped regional trade deal that was to Trump's liking. But the administration refused to lift the taxes on the metals imports anyway.

Trudeau says the Trump administration's national security justification didn't make sense and it was hurting workers and consumers in Canada and the United States.

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1:50 p.m.

The United States has agreed to remove steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada in what was a key roadblock to a new trade deal and a sore point in relations.

Canada, in turn, has agreed to scrap the tariffs it imposed in retaliation.

In a joint statement on Friday, the two countries said they have agreed to eliminate the tariffs within 48 hours.

Sources in the U.S. and Canada said the Trump administration also has reached a deal to remove steel and aluminum tariffs from Mexico.

President Donald Trump last year slapped tariffs on imported steel and aluminum from China and a number of other nations, including Canada, invoking a rarely used provision of a 1962 law to claim that the foreign metals posed a threat to U.S. national security.

The administration retained the tariffs on Canada and Mexico even after the two countries agreed to Trump's demands to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement, which went into effect in 1994. Removal of those tariffs on Canada has become a key demand for the administration to win support of the reworked trade agreement.

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1:40 p.m.

The United States has reached a deal to remove steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico, while those nations would scrap retaliatory tariffs they imposed on U.S. products.

That's according to sources in the U.S. and Canada who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of an announcement.

The deal removes a major hurdle to the passage of a new pact to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement.

President Donald Trump imposed tariffs last year of 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on imported aluminum. He employed a rarely used 1962 law that empowers him to put a levy on products that the Commerce Department determines threaten national security. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau planned a news conference this afternoon after earlier speaking with Trump.

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9 a.m.

President Donald Trump is delaying any decision to impose tariffs on car and auto part imports, deciding against ratcheting up trade disputes or impacting talks with European nations and Japan.

Trump announced his decision to delay for up to six months in a proclamation issued by the White House on Friday.

He was required to make a decision on Commerce Department recommendations aimed to protect the U.S. auto industry, based on national security concerns.

Trump directed his trade team to pursue negotiations and address the impact that imports are having on the U.S. auto industry and its ability to invest in new research and development that he says is critical to the nation's security.